TDP and JSP Jointly Release First List of 99 Candidates for Andhra Pradesh Assembly Election

The Tenure of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly is going to end on 11 June 2024 and The Forthcoming 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Election is set to take place before May 2024, Aiming for the election of all 175 members of the state’s legislative Assembly. As the election comes nearer, political parties and candidates are gearing up for campaigning and voter outreach to secure their position in the assembly.

In a recent development for the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), led by former CM N Chandrababu Naidu, and its alliance Jana Sena Party(JSP), headed by Actor Pawan Kalyan jointly announced a list of 99 candidates.

Addressing the media from his residence in Undavalli, Amaravati, N Chandrababu Naidu said “According to the seat sharing agreement between the two parties, JSP would be contesting for 24 seats in the 175-member state assembly. Besides, it would also contest from three Lok Sabha constituencies.”

In the first candidate list of 99 candidates, the Telugu Desam Party(TDP) has disclosed the names of 94 candidates, While the Jana Sena Party(JSP) has revealed 5 names.

Pawan Kalyan stated, “We will soon reveal the candidates for the remaining 19 seats” and also added, “If the BJP comes forward, we shall take a call on allotment of the seats to that party accordingly.”

టీడీపీ, జనసేన తొలి జాబితా విడుదల చేసిన చంద్రబాబు గారు, పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ గారు#TDPJSPWinning #TDPJSPTogether #TDPJSPAlliance#AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/UQ5NBfAXIL

— Telugu Desam Party (@JaiTDP) February 24, 2024

The TDP’s initial list of 94 candidates reflects a diverse representation, comprising 17 candidates from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 18 from Scheduled Castes, 4 from Scheduled Tribes, and  19 from Kapu, 1 from Velama, 4 from Kshatriya, 12 from Kamma, 15 from Reddy, two from Vysya, and one from minorities and one from Balija community.

TDP chief N. Chandrababu also said that out of 94 candidates, there are 23 newcomers and 13 women. The list includes 28 candidates with post-graduate degrees, 50 candidates with graduate degrees, 3 doctors, two Ph.D., and one IAS officer and the selection of candidates was done after considering the opinions of more than 13.3 million people through an interactive voice response system.

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Naidu Plans to contest from the Kuppam constituency in the Chittoor District, underlining his long-standing influence in the region, and his son, Nara Lokesh would fight the elections from the Mangalagiri constituency in the Guntur district. Additionally, his brother-in-law and veteran actor Nandamuri Balakrishna would contest from Hindupur Constituency.

The Jana Sena Chief emphasized the party decision and said “his party had agreed to contest only in 24 seats keeping in view the broader interests of the state, rather than the interests of the party or individuals.”

Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, the general secretary of the ruling YSR Congress party and advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government remarked on the first list released by the TDP-JSP alliance and said that “Pawan Kalyan got what Naidu dropped. I really pity Pawan Kalyan. Last time, he contested from two seats and lost from both. His name is not there in the first list. I don’t understand why Pawan Kalyan is supporting Naidu because he is getting nothing out of it,”

He also added that “The Jana Sena has proved to be an affiliated party of the TDP. Instead of agreeing for just 24 seats, it would have been better if Pawan Kalyan merged his party with the TDP,” and even if both TDP and JSP indulged in any kind of theatrics, the people were with the YSRCP, as 87% of them were enjoying the benefits of welfare schemes implemented by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.